 The challenge of the Yukon. On, King! On, you Huskies! The Wonder Dog King, swiftest and strongest of Eskimo lead dogs, blazes the trail through storm and snow for Sergeant Preston as he meets the challenge of the Yukon. Sergeant Preston was typical of the small band of Northwest Mountie police who preserved law and order in the new Northwest country where the greed for wealth and power led to frequent violence and bloodshed. But in spite of the odds against them, Sergeant Preston and his Wonder Dog King met that challenge and justice ruled triumphant. Little Jane Cranston sat in the middle of the cabin floor, her black curls bobbing around her face as she bent over to pat her fat puppy. The pup was laboriously gulping down a piece of dried fish. I guess maybe you've had enough to eat now, Frisky. Seems to be getting kind of hard for you to swallow. You sure can eat a lot. You must have been awful hungry. Here, you'd better drink some of this milk now and wash that fish down before it sticks in your throat. Well, dear, did you get a long haul right here alone? Oh yes, Mummy. Frisky and I played all morning. Hi, Daddy. Great heavens, look at that pup. He swelled up like a balloon. He does look awful fat. I guess that's because he ate so much. Jane, you mustn't feed him like that. Puppies are little glutton. They'll eat until they almost burst and it isn't good for them. Oh well, he'll get skinny again. He swells up like that after all his meals. So would you have ate about four times as much as you should? After this, you'd better not feed him without asking Mummy or me first. Alright, Daddy. Oh, Frisky, now you're too tired to play. You just want to go to sleep. Pete, that sounds like a dog team. I guess someone's coming. Sergeant Preston and another Monty. Hello, Sergeant. Oh, is it Sergeant Preston? I want to see him stay away from the door. Jane, it's cold. He's coming in. Hello, Mummy. Hello, Sergeant. Oh, that's my best girl. How are you, Jane? Oh, Sergeant, I'm so glad to see you. I've got something to show you. Just a second. Molly and Jim, Mrs. Corporal Bob Henry, Mr. Mrs. Cranston. How do you do? Glad to know you. And here's my best girl, Jane. How do you do? Hello there. You're a Monty too. Just like Sergeant Preston. Yes, except I'm a corporal and he's a Sergeant. Where's King Sergeant Preston? Well, I left him outside, dear. We can only stay a minute. Oh, dear, can't you have dinner with us? I'll have it ready in a minute. Well, thanks, Molly, but we can't stop. It won't take her long, Preston. But you have to stay. Look what I have. Oh, you've got to look at him. Wake up, Frisky. Well, apart. He's a beauty, Jane. Come here, little fella. My word, look at that stomach. But Jane overfed him while Jim and I were out this morning. He's the most wonderful dog in the world, except maybe King. I want you to tell me just how to train him. Well, the first thing I'd say, Jane, is don't give him all he wants to eat. Now, why don't you put your park on and take him outside and introduce him to King? All right. I'm sure they'll like each other. Come on, Frisky. I'll hurry with dinner. No, Molly, really. We can't stay. Corporal Henry and I are going north. We can't waste a minute. I'll be back in a few minutes, Mummy. Hi, dear. I wanted to get Jane outside before I told you why we stopped. I didn't want to frighten her. What is it, Sergeant? Corporal Henry and I are after a killer. We trailed him this far, and he's somewhere in this vicinity. A killer? You mean... He robbed a bank in Dawson and killed two men. I wondered, Pete, whether you'd seen anything of him on the trail. He's a short, squat breed. Has an eight-dog team and a big sled heavily loaded with supplies. No. I haven't seen anyone like that. We lost his trail a few miles back, but I think we'll be able to pick it up again. He's traveling with such a heavy load, we should be able to catch him. How much gold did he steal from the bank? $50,000 worth. You'd better keep Jane around the house for a while, Molly. You see, this man is ruthless and desperate. He knows we're after him. If Jane happened to see him, there's no telling what he'd do to prevent her telling about it. I'll watch her carefully, Sergeant. Well, Bob, we've got to get going. Sorry we can't stay longer, Molly. Stop by on the way back if everything goes all right. Thanks for warning us about him, Sergeant. And good luck. Thanks. Be careful. Bye. Goodbye. Stop in again as soon as you can. Sergeant Preston, look. King and Frisky like each other. Frisky was so scared when he first saw a king that he laid flat on his back and waved his feet in the air. He's a fine pub, Jane. I'll come back again and get better acquainted with him. Bye. You better take Frisky back into the house. All right, King. Up in front. On King. On your Huskies. Bye. Bye, Jane. Oh, that's sure a nice family, isn't it? Why do they live way out here in the wilderness? Well, Pete does a good business with his traps in winter, and pans gold from the creek in summer. He'll soon have enough money to take his family back to civilization. On your Huskies. I think we better keep on this trail and see if we can pick up any sign of Pierce and his team farther on. The last snowfall gave them a break, but it didn't last enough to hide his trail very long. We'll find it if it kept going and isn't hiding somewhere. Faster, King. On your Huskies. It was noon of the following day when the mownies picked up the trail of the man they were pursuing. Without stopping for the night, they continued on the trail that was lighted by bright moonlight. Dawn found them weary but plotting on doggedly, when suddenly they heard a shot. Look for cover, Bob. Behind those rocks. Come on, King. Bring the dogs back, boy. That's close. Piece of shoulder in my pocket. Get down here beside me, Bob. That's a good thing this light wasn't very good. He might have picked us off. Down, Bob. Dogs are safe. King's taking them back. Looks like we'll have to shoot it out with Pierce. Yeah, I've got a good spot here between these rocks. I hope I can get a bead on him. Just once. King, you should have stayed with the team, boy. All right. Lie down beside me, fella. There he is, Bob. I'm not going to get any place this way. I could just get over to the left behind those trees and be able to shoot at him from different angles. You better not try it, Sergeant. It's too dangerous. He might expose himself for a second to try and get me. I'm going to try it, Bob. Watch him. You stay here, King. Understand? Stay here. Let me go, Sergeant. Well, they order us to stay where you are, Bob. Keep your eye on that rock where Pierce is hiding. Ready? All ready. Good luck. Sergeant! Sergeant, I think I got him. He stood up to shoot at you and I saw him fall. Might be a trick, Bob. I'm sure I got him. I couldn't have missed him. I guess you're right. He shot at me again when I came back. You better be careful, though. You go to the right and I'll go to the left around those rocks. That'll give one of us a chance in case you missed. I didn't miss. I know I didn't. There he is, Sergeant. Here in the snow. I got him right through the head. Yes, you sure did, Bob. Well, that's the end of Pierce. I'm sorry he's dead, but... Well, if I hadn't shot him, he might have killed you. Well, that's all right, Bob. You had to do it. There's his team. We're near that clump of trees. Don't worry, King. I'm all right. Come on, Bob. I'll transfer the gold to my sled and put Pierce's body on his. What's wrong? There's not a speck of gold on this sled. What? And there aren't many supplies on it either. I'm sure that's Pierce. I'd know him anyway. Yes, it's Pierce all right. But he knew we were after him and must have hidden that gold in a lot of supplies someplace. Probably thought he'd lighten his load enough to get away from us over the border and come back later and pick it up. Yeah, you'd have made it too if we hadn't traveled all night. And now I've killed him. We'll never know where he's hidden it. What rotten luck. Well, it couldn't be helped. He's made a cache somewhere back on the trail. We'll search around here first and then go back slowly. We may have missed it during the night. Hello, Sergeant Preston. Hello, Mommy. How are you, Crudson? I heard your dog team, but I was up to my elbows and soapsides. Well, you have two teams. Did you catch them? Yes, we got him, Molly. I came back to tell you not to worry about Pierce anymore. He's dead. Dead? Yes, I shot him and killed him and now we can't find the gold that he stole. You mean he hid it somewhere? Yes, we hadn't been able to find where he had it. Guess we never will. Well, at least you've rid the country of a murderer. That's all my fault. You had to do it, Bob. You've probably saved my life by killing him. Where's Pete, Molly? He's out looking for Frisky. The puppy's been gone for two days and there's no sign of him anywhere. Oh, Sergeant Preston, I'm so glad you came. You and King will find Frisky. I know you will. Hello, Jane. Jane, dear, Sergeant Preston can't waste time hunting for puppies. He's on duty. But I love Frisky. He's the only thing that's all mine. If I don't find him, I'll just die that's all. Well, now don't cry, dear. Of course we'll help you look for Frisky. You will? Oh, Sergeant, I just knew you wouldn't. I'm really, Sergeant. It's too much to ask you to do this. Jane, you can't accept it. That's all right, Molly. I'll be glad to help, Jane. Thank you, Sergeant Preston. You know just how I feel because you love King so much. That's right, Jane. Now, come on. We'll get King and see if we can find some trace of Frisky. You better help us, too, Bob. Sergeant, don't you think we better be getting back to headquarters? It's important. Well, maybe this is important, too, Bob. Come on. When did you say Frisky disappeared, Jane? Two days ago, after you were here. I'm so afraid he was caught in a trap or something. He ran away from me, and I couldn't go after him because Mommy made me promise not to go away from the house. I don't know why. Well, there's your dad. Hi there, Pete. Hello, Preston. Did you have any luck? We got him all right. How about you? Any sign of Frisky? Nope. I'm afraid we have to give up. I found some of his tracks in the snow over here ways, but they stopped at a big strip of shale, and I couldn't follow them any farther. I'm afraid a wolf or something must have got him. Oh, Daddy, no. Sergeant Preston. Now, don't worry, Jane. We won't give up. Let's go back to those tracks, Pete. Perhaps King can help when we get to the shale where there's no snow. Look where the tracks end, Sergeant. We must have gone off among those rocks somewhere. How could he get so far away? He was so little. Well, those pubs have more strength than you'd think, Jane. Here, King. These tracks, fellow. Find him. Find Frisky. Found in a big circle. He's trying to pick up the sand, Jane. It's rather old. I wish we had something of Frisky's, but there's sand on it. I brought his blanket with me. The one he set on. I thought he might be cold if we found him. Find Jane. Let me have it. Here, King. It's Frisky we're looking for. This blanket, fellow. Find him. That way, boy. Through those rocks. The wind is blowing from that direction. That might help. Come on. I'll try and follow King. He's the only one who can find Frisky. Careful, Jane. Found something, Sergeant. He's barking over at that big pile of rocks. Yes, I see him. But I don't see Frisky. Maybe it's just a rabbit or something. King knew what he was looking for. What is it, boy? Oh, I hope he's found my puppy. Seems to be looking through that little hole between those rocks. Melissa. It's Frisky. Frisky, is that you? Let's move these rocks and get him out of there. I don't see how he got in there. We're getting you out, Frisky. Yeah, this one will do it. There he is. Oh, Frisky. Oh, I'm so glad to get you back. Look at him. Look at how fat he is. That stomach. After being caught in there for two days, wait a minute. Help me move some more of these rocks. Sure. That's enough. Yes, there's something in here. Oh, look at this. It's a bag of gold. Preston, you think this is what we're doing? I think we've found Pierce's cash, Bob. Thanks to Frisky. But how did he get in there? And why didn't he come out the same way and come home? Well, Jane, Frisky smelled of food hidden in here with the width of gold. He squeezed in that small opening, but after he'd eaten all he could, his stomach was too big and he couldn't get out. So he just lay down and went to sleep. When he woke up, he was hungry again. Went through the same routine. He sure is a little glutton. Yes. We found the gold. That's what's important. Yes. Thanks to Frisky and King, the bank will get its money back. And thanks to you, I've got Frisky. You and King were wonderful to look for him. Well, we could hardly do less for our best girl, could we, King? These copyrighted dramas originate in the studios of WXYZ Detroit. And all characters, names, places, and incidents used are fictitious. They are sent to you each week at the same time. Hue Holder speaking. This is the Michigan Radio Network.